Women required to wear head covering as
as sign of submission to their husbands

NO

YES

Women required to submit to the authority
of their husbands as if their husbands were
Jesus Christ

NO

YES

Women were created for men
Men were not created for women

NO

YES

Women and men have equal rights

YES

NO

God is both Father and Mother

YES

NO

God is only Father, not Mother

NO

YES

Okay to eat meat

NO

YES

Okay to eat meat that has been
sacrificed to demonic idols

NO

YES

Slavery is permitted

NO

YES

Christians can even own other
Christians as slaves

NO

YES

Salvation is dependent on following
the saving teachings of Jesus

YES

NO

Salvation is dependent on belief in the
sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross

NO

YES

Belief in reincarnation in the context
of a cosmic school system

YES

NO

Based on this life only, you will either go
to heaven (if you believe in Jesus's sacrificial
death) or will burn in hell for eternity

NO

YES

Teachings based on the words of Jesus

YES

NO

Teachings based on the ideas of Paul

NO

YES

Use a New Testament with many more
words of Paul than Jesus

NO

YES

Christians slaves must work extra
hard if their slave master is a Christian

NO

YES

DOCTRINE TWELVE

DOCTRINE ON ESSENE SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

The spiritual practices of Essene Church of Christ are based primarily on the teachings found within our holy scriptures. These practices include such disciplines as Essene Yoga, the Sevenfold Peace Contemplations, and the Tree of Life Communions. Our basic spiritual practices are outlined, and a program for implementing them provided, in a manuscript titled The Manual of Discipline of Essene Church of Christ. Some advanced spiritual practices are provided only within the context of advanced courses within our Mystery School.

The Manual of Discipline of Essene Church of Christ is required reading for those who wish to become a member of Essene Church of Christ. That Manual is used as a textbook in our Membership Class. A good, general introduction to two key Essene Spiritual Practices  the Sevenfold Peace Contemplations and the Tree of Life Communions  is provided in a book by Edmond Szekely titled, From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

COMMENTARY ON DOCTRINE TWELVE

Members of Essene Church of Christ are not expected to be perfect at following our spiritual practices. Rather, they are asked to try their best, and, when they stumble  as we all occasionally do  to get back up and continue trying. The most important thing is to LOVE GOD AND GODDESS IMMANENT AND TRANSCENDENT WITH ALL YOUR HEART!

Of course, not everyone will try their best. Some loaf, some strive, and most do some of each. That is why there are various levels of initiation within our Mystery School. Empowerment within Essene Church of Christ is linked with attainment within our Mystery School, Essene Mountain of Peace. The spiritual practices of Essene Church of Christ are taught within the context of enrollment within Essene Mountain of Peace.

One foundational spiritual discipline of Essene Church of Christ is vegetarianism. In order to become a member of Essene Church of Christ one must become a vegetarian. Dairy and eggs are permitted, though some choose to be vegan and abstain from all animal products.

Another foundational spiritual practice of our church is called The Sevenfold Peace. It is both a lifestyle practice and a meditation practice. The Sevenfold Peace lifestyle practice is outlined below:

PEACE WITH THE MIND. Essenes practice peace with the mind via such things as: positive affirmations and creative visualizations in the form of the Essene Tree of Life Communions and Noon Peace Contemplations (given by Yahshua and Miriam in the Essene Gospels); positive thinking; constructive daily activities for the mind to focus on; abstinence from garbage television programs; etc.

PEACE WITH THE FAMILY. Essenes practice peace with the family via such things as: Conscious Emotional Equanimity through the art of WATCHING, UNDERSTANDING, and WISELY CHANNELING our emotions; positive and wise interaction with all family members and anyone else in our immediate environment; radical forgiveness; unconditional love; etc.

PEACE WITH HUMANITY. Essenes practice peace with humanity via such things as: creative work for the uplift of all via right livelihood and right volunteerism; ACTIVE PARTICIPATION in the group effort of the Essene church to spread the teachings of the Sevenfold Peace all over the planet; non-support of activities, products, or institutions which create disharmony and violence in the world; support of activities, products, or institutions which create harmony and peace in the world; etc.

PEACE WITH CULTURE. Essenes practice peace with culture via such things as: studying the writings of the great spiritual masters of various religious traditions; listening to the great musical masterpieces which have been passed down through the generations; viewing the great works of art -- paintings, sculptures, craftwork, -- that are preserved in museums; becoming aware of our own ethnic cultural heritage; becoming aware of the ethnic cultural heritages of others; etc.

PEACE WITH MOTHER EARTH. Essenes practice peace with Mother Earth via such things as: planting trees (the average American uses up the equivalent of seven trees per year; thus, we each should try to plant AT LEAST seven trees per year); being in conscious harmony with all the forces of nature represented by the seven roots of the symbolic Essene Tree of Life; recycling; supporting environmental causes and groups; drive less, walk more; maintain an organic garden; support organic farms by purchasing their products; EATING LOW ON THE FOOD CHAIN: BEING VEGETARIAN IS THE ONE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, etc.

PEACE WITH GOD/GODDESS. Essenes practice peace with God/Goddess via such things as: The complete dedication of our life to the spiritual path for the sake of enhanced communion with God and Goddess Immanent and Transcendent; total surrender of the personal ego to the luminous "I AM" which is Yah; self realization; service to all creation motivated by love for the Creator; being in conscious harmony with the various spiritual forces and laws of God/Goddess represented by the seven branches of the symbolic Essene Tree of Life; the practice of various Essene yogic techniques and meditation practices given by Yahshua and Miriam; ECSTATIC APPRECIATION for the FREE GIFT which is LIFE (Indeed, Life is a free gift; we did nothing to earn our existence as units of "I AM". The fact that we "BE" is a manifestation of the GRACE of God/Goddess; AND SO WE APPRECIATE AND CELEBRATE THAT GIFT. However, having come into BEING through the GRACE of God/Goddess, each unit of "I AM" is then subject to the LAWS OF BEING. The LAWS of BEING are encoded into the very nature of Being and represent the JUSTICE aspect of God.); and, progressive mastery of the Essene spiritual practices via sincere study within the MYSTERY SCHOOL operated by Essene Church of Christ.

The above is not intended to be a "complete" list of all possible practices for each of the seven parts of THE SEVENFOLD PEACE; rather, the list is intended to be "suggestive". The reader is invited to think of additional ways to experience the blessing of SEVENFOLD PEACE!

As stated above, The Sevenfold Peace is both a lifestyle practice and a type of meditation practice. The lifestyle practice is described above. The meditation practice is called The Noon Peace Contemplation and is described in The Manual of Discipline of Essene Church of Christ and From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Another foundational spiritual practice of Essene Church of Christ is the Tree of Life Communions. Yahshua and Miriam, in our holy scriptures, give a symbol for the universe called The Essene Tree of Life.

The Essene Tree of Life has seven branches and seven roots. Each branch represents a specific spiritual force  such as Love, Wisdom, Power, etc  and each root represents a specific force of nature: Sun, Water, Air, etc.

Also, each of the seven branches corresponds with a specific evening of the week  e.g. Love/Wednesday, Peace/Monday, Wisdom/Thursday, etc. Likewise, each of the seven roots corresponds with a specific morning of the week: Sun/Wednesday, Water/Thursday, Air/Friday, etc.

Certain words  called Communions  are linked with each branch and root. Those words are spoken, sang, or chanted, on the specific morning or evening indicated. The human being is pictured in the center of the tree sitting in the meditation posture. According to Yahshua and Miriam, to the degree that the human being is in harmony with the seven spiritual forces and seven natural forces symbolized as branches and roots, the human will experience being centered within himself/herself, and centered within the universe. Such a Being will experience the Kingdom of Heaven within, and help build it on the outside.

Information on the Essene Tree of Life appears in Books Two and Four of the Essene Gospel of Peace, as well as From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls and The Manual of Discipline of Essene Church of Christ. Even more detailed information on the Essene Tree of Life is found in the Nasarean Bible of the Essene Way. Indeed, the Nasarean Bible of the Essene Way provides not only more detailed information on the Tree of Life Communions, but also explicit instructions on Essene Yoga and all of the other Essene spiritual disciplines. Thus, when that translation is completed, our Manual of Discipline will be updated to include the new information.